


Trials of Ladybug and Chat Noir: Breaking of a Hero

by MrDoutei



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 10:14:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29330655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrDoutei/pseuds/MrDoutei
Summary: Saving the world used to be straightforward.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Plagg, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Kagami Tsurugi, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Lila Rossi, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Felix - Relationship, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth/Nathalie Sancoeur
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	Trials of Ladybug and Chat Noir: Breaking of a Hero

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, there are some differences between the fanfic and canon. Most importantly the fact that the Peacock Miraculous hasn't been fixed.

It was a beautiful day in the even more beautiful city of Paris; the sun was nearly done with its shift and was preparing to set over the horizon. Its milder light cast a beautiful hue that illuminated the entire city; from the birds chirping, to the rustic buildings, to the silver car zooming through the streets as though it was _searching_ for an accident. In this car was a well-dressed man whose calm and resolute countenance did nothing to hide the distress in his eyes. Laying in the backseat was a similarly well-dressed woman, albeit in a subtle, practical manner unlike that of the man, whose style was, although not flashy, had more flair and trendiness to it. The lady gave off an almost icy level of composure and poise, and this impression was not lessened by the fact that she was out cold, in fact it somehow added to the icy vibe given off by this lady.

The man was Gabriel Agreste, fashion mogul, and the lady in the back was his devoted assistant Nathalie. These two were very well known; each celebrities in their own right, but perhaps their alter egos were even more so. Unknown to the rest of the world, they were the infamous Hawk Moth and Mayura; supervillains who terrorised Paris constantly, in the struggle for the Miraculouses of Ladybug and Chat Noir; the superheroes that protected the city.

In fact, their most recent encounter was the reason for Gabriel’s current fuss. Despite the airtight planning of our two antagonists, Ladybug and Chat Noir emerged the victors from the altercation, and the villainous pair turned tail in retreat and in addition, Mayura was even more injured from the continuous use of her Peacock Miraculous which was damaged and “inflicting its wounds unto the user”. The episode was not without benefits however, as they were able to obtain deciphered texts of Miraculouses which would aid them in their future pursuits.

That’s right, ‘their’ pursuits, that’s what Gabriel told himself as he sped through the streets of Paris to find the nearest and _best_ hospital. Suddenly, his vision swam and for only a few moments, he couldn’t see. That was why he was surprised when he felt a powerful jolt that threw his body forwards.

The fashion mogul opened his eyes to see that he had run into a pole; his sudden lapse in vision was caused by a sudden bout of fatigue, accumulated over the past few days both as Gabriel Agreste and as Hawk Moth. Gabriel was only able to hold back from cursing because the only thought he had was to check on Nathalie (and because this is a fanfic of a kid’s show and we don’t want to deviate too much ;)

Since he was in an accident, the police would be here soon, those were the thoughts that Gabriel Agreste, the calm, fashion mogul had. Rather, those were the thoughts he _would_ have had if he were any of those things at the moment. In that moment, he was just a man who was grasping desperately at any opportunity to save one of the people who mattered most in his life. And just like any man grasping desperately, he let the sturdiest rope slip from his fingers and could only see the grass that clung to the bank. He ran into an alley after pulling Nathalie, who was thankfully unhurt, from the wreckage and covering her face which the light blanket that she was covered with in the car.

He stood in the empty alley and immediately shouted: “Nooroo…”

“Wait master,” called a small light purple creature that flew out of his jacket in response to his call, “… dark wings rise.” The creature was suddenly sucked into the butterfly brooch that was pinned in Gabriel’s collar. All of a sudden, he donned a silver cowl and a purple suit; he was the villain Hawk Moth. He swiftly ascended to the rooftops to avoid any foot traffic and with the super strength and agility that his transformation given him it was a breeze.

*

“How far will this take me?” Jean Pierre asked a cab driver, pushing a few notes into his face. He hadn’t been in Paris for a while, so he didn’t know for sure if he had enough to go home with. “TH Avenue,” the pudgy man said, grabbing the notes from his hand and jerking his head backwards to signal that he should get in.

*

A few moments earlier, Gabriel’s transformation was forcefully cancelled, the fatigue of both the master and kwami too much for it too hold, and he slipped on the eaves of a duplex.

He fell rapidly, but was able to grasp unto a windowsill and arrest his fall. He let go after he was sure that the landing would not inflict any damage to Nathalie. Knowing that he couldn’t keep this up on foot, he ran out onto the street in search of a taxi.

He finally spotted one a few metres ahead and ran towards it, there was a young man who was making as though to get into the cab. Apparently, Gabriel didn’t care about the young man’s plans and shoved him out of the way as he got into the backseat of the cab and shouted: “Hopital Saint-Louis, she needs to get there as quickly as possible.” He got into the backseat alongside her, because the taxi didn’t have a harness to prevent her from falling off the seat like his own car did. The taxi sped out immediately towards the hospital, and the young man who was pushed aside and was now on his butt, let out a small, humourless laugh, “And I already paid too,” he said as he got up and cleaned himself off. 

*

Hours later, at the hospital, Gabriel had just finished getting his stitches; apparently, he had several cuts from the earlier crash. He hadn’t noticed earlier, then again, he hadn’t noticed many things, like the fact that if he had been calm and called an ambulance or waited for the police to arrive, he wouldn’t have endangered Nathalie to the extent that he had.

In other words, he was in a rather foul mood. Retrieving his cane, which an officer had given him alongside some other paraphernalia from the crashed car, he opened it up, letting a dark moth out of it.

This was an akuma, a manifestation of his Miraculous’ ability, it was attracted to negative emotions and it flew out into the city, looking for the densest population of negative emotions. Its flight took it into a studio that had a slightly familiar youth trying to figure out why his ice maker wasn’t working and what dish he could prepare with an expired bottle of mustard and an empty fridge. It was the young man that Mr. Agreste had pushed out of the way earlier, he was covered in a thick shroud of frustration, he had had to walk all the way home after all; since he was broke. It was more than that though. He wasn’t just annoyed with today’s events, there was a desperation about him, it was so deep that the akuma basically thrilled in anticipation.

*

A few weeks later, the sun shone on the city of Paris and its denizens. The day was as normal as any in spring, but it was a beautiful day all the same. But to a particular blue-haired girl, it could have been a lot more beautiful.

The girl was our beloved heroine, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and as she sat up in her bed, a small red and black spotted creature that one would mistake for an insect if not for the lack of compound eyes, its paw-like appendages, and the fact that it telling her ‘Good morning.’

The small creature was Tikki, Marinette’s kwami, but more on that later. The kwami was gently pushing against her human’s face, “Marinette, you can’t be late three days in a row,” she urged, “especially with your midterms coming up soon.”

“What’s the point Tikki?” “Even if I ace the midterms, which we both know isn’t going to happen, even if I graduate, and get a job and my dream house, it won’t be with him.” She basically groaned out as she sunk back into her bed and looked at the pictures that covered the walls of her room, pictures of him; Adrien Agreste, model, fencing champion, and most importantly, the love of her life. “Marinette! I understand that you feel bad, horrible even, but no good can come out of moping in your bed and coming to school late!”

Marinette was shocked, Tikki hardly if ever, shouted at her, and never so harshly. Her shock must have registered on her face, because Tikki laughed nervously as though just realizing what she had done. “I’ve been doing some reading,” she said as she tapped Marinette’s keyboard and opened an e-book titled: “The Tough Years: How to Deal With Your Teenage Daughter.” A blush creeped unto her face; this was one of the many books she had started reading, well so that she would be prepared when Adrien and her had kids of their own. (Let’s be honest here, this girl’s a creep. Planning their kid’s future before the first date?) She held Tikki in her hands and rubbed her cheek against the red and black-spotted kwami and thanked her for motivating her, and stood up and showered, she came out in her signature rolled up long sleeves and pink pants. “You know what Tikki?” she said as she walked out of her parents’ bakery, of course the kwami couldn’t answer because it was snacking in her purse, “Today is going to be a good day, no matter what.” The determination in her voice was one that only destiny itself could defy.

*

On the other side of the city, a particular green-eyed boy was having his breakfast alone, again. Suddenly, a tall man walked into the room and was staring at him. This man was Gabriel Agreste and the boy he was staring at was his son, Adrien. “Good morning father,” Adrien said immediately he walked in, “anything the matter?” “Nothing Adrien, everything is going terrifically.” _I find that hard to believe,_ Adrien thought, his father had a three-day beard and bags under his eyes. He had never seen his father look anything short of perfect, and to look haggard up to this point was somewhat jarring to the sixteen-year old. “Adrien,” his father said knocking him out of his thoughts, “what would you say to spending the day with me? My schedule has suddenly cleared up.”

“Then this must not be Gabriel Agreste’s schedule I’m holding in my hand right now,” said a woman clad in a black pantsuit and a look cold enough to turn Adrien’s glass of milk to a block of it, “Not to mention that Adrien’s midterms are coming up and he can’t afford to miss classes at this time.” “Oh yes Nathalie,” he said with slight embarassment to the lady who was now standing next to him, “What would I do without you?”

“You would apparently look like this very often, sir.”

“How true,” he admitted with a fair bit of humour.

“How was your vacation Nathalie, aren’t you a few days early though?”

“Well Adrien, it was quite engaging,” she said as she wiped her glasses on her jacket, “ I spent a lot of time trying to figure out why people would come to a beach to get sunburns and mosquito bites and then finding out that whatever answer there was would be unlikely to apply to me”

Adrien let out a nervous laugh, _Nathalie hardly ever talks so lengthily,_ and then turning to look at his disgruntled father, he wondered, _is there something wrong with them?_

As Adrien left in the car, Gabriel and Nathalie watched it until it reached the end of their vision. “What’s wrong sir?” Nathalie queried as soon as her gaze broke from the direction in which the car was going, “You’re usually not like… this.” She said referring to his appearance and him asking Adrien to spend the day with him. “Well, if all goes according to plan, Adrien will be spending all of his time with Emilie, I had better get as much time as I can with him before that happens,” he said with a chuckle.

 _Mr. Agreste is making jokes?_ She thought as her brow furrowed, the only time she recalled him doing anything similar was when he donned his butterfly Miraculous and became Hawk Moth, if that dark, almost sadistic way of twisting words even counted.

“Why are you here Nathalie? You aren’t supposed to come for another couple of days”

“I wanted to help you sir,” she said almost imploringly.

“And you will, but when you have recovered, and not a moment before. I will not debate this with you anymore, Nathalie,” he added, seeing that she wanted to object.

“Hello, Doctor Angel?” he said into the phone he had picked up and dialled on.

“I understand that she has made considerable progress, but my instructions were that she should not be allowed to leave until the prescribed time.”

“Gorilla will take you back to the hospital when he returns,” he said as he turned towards Nathalie and walked out of the room.

* 

Adrien was thinking about Nathalie’s and his father’s strange behaviour as he stepped out of the car and walked into the school building. “What’s up dude?” Adrien turned around to see a tanned boy in a blue T-shirt and headphones round his neck. The boy was Nino, Adrien’s best friend, he threw an arm round his neck as soon as he caught up with him.

“Dude, what’s wrong? Your face is like a lemon, totally sour.”

“Nothing much, it’s just… my dad was acting really strange today.”

“How so?”

“Well, he looked so unkempt today, and he asked me to spend the day with him.”

“You refused?”

“No, Nathalie interrupted before I could give answer, she was acting rather weird too, she made a joke, it was deadpan and laced with sarcasm, but it was a joke.”

“I thought she was on vacation.”

“She was, but she didn’t seem to enjoy it very much, so she came back earlier than she was supposed to.”

“It _is_ weird,” he said as he held his chin in contemplation, “but isn’t it a good thing? If your dad is getting less stuck- er, I mean strict, that means maybe he’ll allow you to go out more and stuff.”

“Yeah,” Adrien said, as the two bound up the stairs, “Maybe.”

*

At the bottom of the stairs stood a tanned girl with reddish-brown hair who looked at her watch and tapped her foot as she had done all too many times. This girl was Alya Cesaire, Marinette’s best friend and amateur blogger and she was, as always, waiting for said best friend. Seconds later, there she was, in a clumsy flash of blue and pink.

“You surprise me girl,” she said with mock amazement, “a whole six minutes earlier than usual.” Marinette only gave her signature nervous laugh in response. “Come on,” Alya said as she grabbed hold of her wrist, “no point in standing out here and getting to class late, now is there?”

The class erupted in mock cheer once they saw that their blue-haired class rep had beaten the bell. It wasn’t as if she never came early, but she was late more often than not, and so the class had adopted this ceremony of cheering everytime she got in early. The bluenette (means she’s blue-haired, it’s not actually a word as far as I know) took in in good humour, and even threw in a bow as a response to their cheers.

That was until she spotted the green-eyed blonde who clapped along with the rest of the class, and she suddenly felt awkward; not the usual cloud-nine, butterflies in her stomach awkward. She felt out of place and weird, she slowly made her way to her seat, smiling all the way, so no one could tell that she was feeling the way she was. She sat down with a sigh and wished that she didn’t have to stare at that perfect head of hair throughout. 

He started attending her school the same time that she did, and ever since he had given her that umbrella after school and she was hardly able to complete her goodbye, she knew that she would be in trouble.

And she was; over the past year, she had tried, and failed to convey her feelings for him. The degree of failure ranged from simply embarrassing herself greatly to creating an alternate timeline where the entire city and its denizens are destroyed. Nevertheless, she always held unto that sliver of hope that not only would she be able to bare her feelings to him, but that he would feel the same way and they would live happily ever after, in a quiet house, with three beautiful children and a pet cat, no dog, no hamster. Those dreams, were dashed however with the things that had happened this past week.

Kagami Tsurugi; she and Adrien had so much in common; Marinette knew that she would end up with him eventually. There were times, she was embarrassed to say, that she tried sabotaging Kagami to stop her from getting closer to Adrien. It seems that they were meant to be, because no matter how many times that Marinette had tried, it did nothing but blow up in her face. They weren’t officially a couple, but they might as well be in Marinette’s eyes. She felt so foolish, all that planning and dreaming and hoping, all for nothing.

*

Deeper in the city, in a gym called Le Stade du Combate, several performers were standing round a ring while two others were sparring. One was a man of about six feet with dark brown hair, and a red uniform. While the other was an even taller woman, with honey coloured eyes and everything from her helmet to her boots fashioned in yellow. The man was Jean Pierre (stereotypical French name, I know) and he was sparring against was Nora Cesaire, Alya Cesaire’s older sister. The fight was moving at a steady pace, Jean was watching her every movement with a calculating, almost cold demeanor. The only problem was that Nora had too much energy; even if they were moving slowly, she could change the flow of the match instantaneously and he was left reacting to her moves rather than putting up an offensive of his own.

His calm style paid off however, as he was able to find a gap when her foot came up for a roundhouse kick. He dodged past her leg and tackled her down to the mat, it would have been a lot more difficult usually, but she was unbalanced because she had only one foot on the ground. However, before he could capitalize on or celebrate his manouvre, Nora had wrapped her legs around him and grabbed his neck and his left arm in a sort of submission. The technique was not only very painful, but it made it very difficult for him to breathe. Nora called it the Spider’s Web, and after a few seconds of thrashing helplessly, Jean had to concede, and Nora was declared the winner, again.

She stood up and offered him her hand to help him get up, “I won’t fall for that,” he said as he stood up by himself. “Fall for what?” she said with an almost wicked grin. The six-footer didn’t say anything, Nora was notorious for being less than gentle to felled opponents, whether it was actual matches or sparring, she always had a demeaning comment or antic for all her conquests. Although Jean never took a hand up no matter whom he lost to, so perhaps it was something other than the acerbic treatment he would have gotten.

After taking a shower, he walked out of the gym and unto the street, it was still early afternoon, and he couldn’t head back home now, he couldn’t head back home at all. He decided to head over to the Dupain-Cheng bakery, _Maybe Tom has some deliveries I could help him_ with _._ He slowly made his way to said bakery all the while humming (Imagine the Miraculous theme song).

“Hey Tom, hey Sabine,” he said as he opened the bakery door and greeted the owners, “where’s Marinette?”

“Where every teenager is on a Thursday,” Tom said as he dropped the boxes of pastries that Jean was to deliver.

“It’s Thursday?” he responded with a shrug as he scanned some of the pastries on display discreetly.

“Yes it is,” Sabine responded with a with a small laugh as she passed him the list and one of the macaroons that she had noticed him observing, she knew that he’d never ask. The young man accepted the cookie with clear embarrassment as he scratched the back of his neck and looked at the list.

“Mr. and Mrs. Dupain-Cheng?” he asked, and his sudden formal address clearly disturbed the couple.

“There’s an extra box.”

“Really?” Tom said with an exaggerated display of surprise. “I told you that he would notice,” she muttered to her husband as she walked towards Jean.

“Well, Jean the extra box is for your dad,” Sabine said gently. 

“Oh, but my dad can’t eat any of this,” he said as he dropped the box back onto the counter, “too much sugar.”

“Jean-”

“You really don’t need to do this,” Jean said, with a smile that was too convincing to be true, “I’m okay, I really am.”

“Except that you aren’t,” Tom inputted almost impatiently.

“And there’s no shame in that,” Sabine said as she placed a hand on the shoulder of the youth, “everyone’s down sometimes, it’s not a crime to rely on others.”

The youth looked at the couple intensely, there was no winning against the two. “Thank you,” he said finally, bowing sincerely, “I’m truly grateful.”

“No need to say it like that,” Tom scratched his head, a blush creeping unto his face, “It’s just a box of cookies.”

*

Jean later walked out, unlocked his bike from the front of the bakery, and dropped the pastries into the courier delivery box on his bike. He got unto the bike and whistled jovially as he pedalled towards the first address. As he cycled, one could see a box of macaroons and extra one laid down in an alley a little ways from the bakery.

*

When he stopped in front of the indicated address, he inspected it repeatedly and wondered if Nora had hit him too hard earlier. His small bike was parked in front of the Agreste compound. 


End file.
